March 17th 2010

*Crumbs!*

It was really humbling to see our inclusion in ‘The Week’ magazine last week, amongst just 7 recommended best UK coffee shops – with the others mentioned really being some of the very best – mightily skilled legends, that are inspirational, hugely experienced, and more coffee-focussed establishments. Kind of feels like an episode of Faking It recently – *I actually haven’t a clue what I’m doing in comparison to these guys, and often think my espressos taste wrong!*. I guess to some extent it’s this continual realisation that I have so much more to learn about coffee and espresso, and this aspiration to always try to improve what I (as a barista) and we (as a cafe) do with the coffee, that has led to the achievements so far, and the recent recognition for the hard work getting there.

There are some members of the team at the plan who’ve learnt well, over time, and developed a real skill for the techniques with the espresso drinks, and who can hopefully help to sustain and deliver some coffee and customer service for all coming through the doors, that is worthy of our recent publicity, along with all the food, etc!

It doesn’t seem possible to link to ‘The Week’ article online – so here’s a photo of the page! (click to enlarge)

I made my first visit to ‘The Plan’ last weekend (as a local, not sure how I’ve missed this place for so long!!) the coffee served by the young lady was excellent, best coffee in Cardiff by a long shot. Keep up the good work, I’ll certainly be back!!

Fantastic! And thanks.
The starting point is using great, fresh, craft-roasted coffee – and having a genuine passion for it, and its preparation as espresso …and then the barista techniques are essential to get that quality into the cup at the final stage.

The attention to detail, and dedication with everything espresso, the staff training, and the cafe’s recent investment in fantastic equipment are all crucial too. It’s great that the team can now make coffee that attracts such kind comments – it makes all the hard work worthwhile.
Look forward to seeing you again sometime!
Cheers,
Trevor 🙂

[…] certainly don’t want to mislead anyone, and if you read the actual reviews (Independent, Guardian, South Wales Echo, Radio Wales interview), their coffee-focus is clear – and this is something I […]